Testing a Theory
by phattycat3
Summary: Logan returns from a 2 year absence to find things have changed, especially Rogue. He also carries with him a secret


Title: Testing a Theory  
Author: Heather  
Rating: M  
Summary: Logan returns after a 2 year departure to find things have changed, especially Rogue, but he brings with him a secret.  
Series: yep, so far 3 chapters  
Category: X-Men movie, Rogan  
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, but god do I wish they were. Sigh Please don't sue. I have no money.

Chapter 1- Return

Changing seasons used to mean everything to her. With each change it brought with it some sense of hope. Now they only served to remind her just how long it had been since he'd gone.

It wasn't like it was the first time he had left, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. However something felt different this time. Usually she's give him a big hug, tell him she'd miss him and to be safe, and then run back to Bobby and the rest of her friends. This time it was painful to say goodbye, as if she was losing part of herself when he drove away.

Rogue made her way down the open hall by her room toward the large window that sat at the end. It had become a routine over the last two years since his departure. Everyday she'd sit next to the window and wait, closing her eyes and imagine that she could hear the sound of his motorcycle heading up the path toward the school. Only this time it was no fantasy. Her eyes shot open and she stared out the window to see him just before he entered the garage.

She tried to gather her composure as she raced toward the stairs and down into the main hall. She had always envisioned that when she saw him again, she would be calm and collected and not let him know how much every moment that he was gone, she felt herself disappear. Instead, the moment he appeared in the hall she jumped into his arms, hugging him tight enough to say 'leave me again and you will suffer'.

"Hey kid, miss me or something?" he joked, caught off guard.

She missed his smell. Stale cigars and leather. When they had first met it symbolized home for her, comfort. He had always been the one to take care of her, as if he was trying to be that adult figure in her life. Over time it had come to symbolize something completely different. Something she wasn't sure she should allow herself to acknowledge.

She slowly let him go, stepped back and stared at him for a moment, a big smile on her face.

"I guess you could say that I missed you, I mean everyone else here is so…boring." She smiled trying to hide her blushing face.

He stared at her for a moment. Something about the way he was looking at her made her feel alive. She could have sworn that the look in his eye had changed from a man protecting a child to a man looking at a woman, but she figured it was only her imagination.

"Logan, it's good to have you home." Storm had just walked into the hallway. She walked toward him and gave him a hug. His eyes lingered on Rogues for a few moments before breaking away and falling on Storm.

Overwhelmed with emotion that he had finally come home, Rogue slowly made her way out of the entrance hall, as more and more people made their way in to welcome Logan home.

She entered her room, her sanctuary and sat at the edge of her bed. So much had changed since he'd been gone. Jean and Scott had gotten married and left the X-Men to try and make a home for their unborn child. Storm had taken on the role of leader. Rogue herself, now graduated had become more of a force on the team and was helping with lessons of her own. Not to mention the fact that with the help of Professor H, she'd been able to control her powers to the point that the only part on her body that still posed a threat were her hands. Although, she'd never tested the theory out.

She lay back and the vision of the way he stared at her floated back into her mind. Was she just imagining it? Was it just her school girl crush come back tenfold with his return? Or was he really looking at her the way she'd always seen him look at Professor Grey?

Caught up in her thoughts she almost missed the sound of knocking at her door. She sat up immediately and went to welcome her visitor.

He stood in her doorway one arm raised above his head leaning against the molding, the other in his pocket.

"Hey, mind if I come in for a sec?"

She nodded and turned to make room for him to enter. She could only remember three times that he had entered her room, and all of them were because she had come to get him for some stupid reason like killing a spider or getting a book off a shelf she couldn't reach. This time was different.

He stood their silent for a moment looking around her room, as if it were the first time he'd been there.

"Nice room, kid." He paused for a moment and turned around to look at her. "Although, I guess you aren't much of a kid anymore huh?" She sensed that he felt uncomfortable and at once knew that the way he had looked at her earlier was no mistake and it was not in her head.

She moved toward him, but he moved making his way to the large chair that sat in the corner. She followed his lead and sat on the side of her bed facing him.

"So…Xavier tells me that you're teaching now?" He was never good with small talk.

"Um…sort of. I'm just an assistant teacher really, I help Storm out with some of her classes, it not a big deal."

"No, no its great." He tried to hide the nervousness of his voice when he spoke. "He also tells me you've been able to control your powers?"

"Yeah, although it's not like I've had any human interaction to test that theory out on. But from what we can tell, only my hands seem to be the problem."

They sat silent for a while, trying not to make eye contact. It had only been a minute, but the silence felt an eternity to her.

"Well, I just wanted to say hi, since we didn't' really get to talk before." He stood up quickly and began to head for the door.

"Logan...wait." she called to him. She made her way from the bed toward him. His back faced her but she could imagine the expression on his face. She had never been more terrified in her life. She of course had had the school girl fantasies of what it would be like to be in a room alone with him and not have him look at her like a little girl, but the reality of the situation was something entirely different. Scarier, but all the more satisfying too.

She reached one of her gloved hands toward his shoulder and slowly turned him around. It seemed he tried to force himself to glance everywhere but at her. It didn't work.

"Would you……help me with something?" she asked cautiously.

He swallowed hard before allowing a "hmmm" to break out.

"Test Professor H's theory?" she could hardly believe she had asked him, and was even more surprised when he didn't back away.

She began to close the gap between them feeling his breath begin to quicken the closer she got.

"Are you scared?" she asked nervously putting her arms around his neck.

"Ter..terrified." he choked the words out almost unable to speak.

She put her cheek next to his. Skin on skin. She could feel the competition in their heart beats, which one could race quicker than the others. It was hard to tell.

They sat like that for what felt like an eternity before she felt him begin to pull back. Only he didn't break away completely. He looked at her for moment before reaching his hand up and combing it through her hair. It then made its way under her chin pushing it up as he leaned in.

His lips touched hers softly at first. As if he had never kissed anyone before. She was sure it was out of apprehension, and not because of her powers. Slowly his tongue parted her lips and found its way into her mouth. His hands moved around her back and pulled her closer to him.

Small groans were let out, but who they belonged to Rogue couldn't tell, nor did she care. She couldn't believe this was happening. It had to be some sort of dream. Logan didn't look at her like that. He didn't touch her like that, and she was sure he never thought of kissing her like that. But he did.

Soon their lips broke free of one another and there they stood, alone staring into each other's eyes.

"Rogue, have you seen my…oh…" Jubilee had just walked into the room. They quickly let go of one another and Logan turned to leave.

"Hey Professor…um…welcome home." Jubilee smiled as he passed her. He gave a quick nod before turning one last time to look at Rogue before disappearing into the hallway.

"What was THAT all about?" Jubilee asked plopping her body down onto Rogues bed. Only Rogue couldn't respond, she simply stared at where he had just been. Reaching her gloved hand up to her lips she touched them before turning toward Jubilee.

"It was nothing, he just wanted to give me a present…" and with that Rogue quickly changed the subject.

Chapter 2- The Garage

It had been a week since he had returned to the mansion. Although to Rogue it was as if he hadn't returned at all. She had hardly seen him since the night he came to her room, and when she did see him, it was as if he was doing everything in his power not to look at her.

She sat alone in her room, thinking back to the kiss they shared and what it meant. She knew how she felt about him, she'd known if for years and after that moment she thought she knew what he felt too. However, if he really did feel for her the way she did for him, why would he avoid her like he had been?

Lying on her bad she turned on her side to face the open window. She needed to just let it go. Obviously what had happened between them was never going to happen again. Maybe he was just helping her test whether or not she could really control her powers and nothing more. But if that was all there was why did he look at her the way he did? A look with such fire and passion, she surely could not be making it up.

"That's it." She declared to herself. Forcing herself to get off of her bed which had recently become her cocoon, she pulled on zip up hoodie, put on her shoes and headed toward the garage. She knew he would be there, he was always there.

As she approached the door to the parking garage, her stomach began to swell with butterflies. What was she doing? She didn't exactly know what to say to him, only that she knew she needed to talk to him about what happened. Quietly opening the door she could see him sitting with his back toward her working on his motorcycle.

She tried not to notice the sweat that was beading down his tan neck, or the way the muscles in his arm all seemed to work together just to make her knees weak. She tried not to notice the way he looked in his tank top, or the way his ass looked in his jeans. She tried not to notice, which soon made him turn and notice her.

He stared at her for a moment undoubtedly in shock before turning back toward his motorcycle.

"What are you doin in here kid?" he whispered.

Kid? Kid? They were back to that game again? She hated him in that moment.

"I need to talk to you." She cautiously made her way around the other cars in the garage but made sure to keep a fair amount of distance between herself and Logan.

"Now's not a good time." He sighed.

"And when would be a good time, Logan?" she demanded. "We need to talk and you …" She was almost yelling, but caught herself. Regaining her composure she began inched closer to where he sat.

"Look, about what happened that was a mistake. I shouldn't have done that. You're young and…"

"In case you haven't notice, Logan, I'm not that young anymore. You were gone a long time. I'm not a little kid anymore who needs your protecting."

Silence filled the room. She hated silence even more than she hated when he called her kid.

"I know" he whispered. Slowly he got to his feet and headed toward the tool box sitting at the back of the garage. He paused after picking up a wrench and turned around to face her, leaning against the counter. "I can't hurt you. Don't you understand that? And I will. I will hurt you." He pleaded.

The butterflies in Rogues stomach had now been replaced by a sting of pain. There was no way she was going to allow him to back away from this. She was not going to allow him to deny what she knew they both wanted. What they both needed.

"That's not your choice to make." He was looking away from her, down at the floor as if his boots had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world. She made her way toward him.

Reaching her gloved hand toward his face she caressed his cheek forcing him to look up at her. Instead his eyes went to the ceiling, wall, anywhere but into hers. She raised her other hand and placed it on the other side of his face cradling it softly. She inched her face forward leaning in to kiss him, but he pulled away slightly.

"I can't…you don't…" but he was interrupted as her lips met with his. At first it was she who took charge, kissing him slipping her tongue into his mouth. But soon he gave in. Wrapping his arms around her, he slipped his tongue deeper into her throat, kissing her harder and deeper than she had ever experienced before. His hands made their way lower, cupping her ass and lifting her up onto the counter behind them. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled her closer to him.

He kisses made their way from her mouth to her neck. He reached for the zipper on her jacket and began to pull it down, revealing a tiny tank top. He slipped the jacket off and began to nibble her shoulder and chest.

She had no control her body, it now belonged to him. All of her was his both physically and mentally.

"What the hell…Logan? Oh my god…Rogue?" Storm had just walked in and witnessed their transgression. Quickly Rogue grabbed her jacket, threw it on and ran out of the garage. She could hear Storm and Logan arguing behind her.

"What are you doing…She's just a kid, Logan?" Storm pleaded.  
"She's not a kid anymore, and it's about time we all realized that." He shot back. Rogue smiled at these words. To her it didn't matter if anyone else realized that she'd grown up. The important thing was that he had.

"Well if she's such a grown up Logan, have you told her?" There was silence. "Well have you? Don't do this to her Logan; she deserves to know what she's in for."

Rogue could hear the sound of footsteps headed in her direction. She quickly slid into a small crevice between to walls and watched as Storm exited the garage. A sinking feeling began to take to take over Rogue and she couldn't help but feel as though she had gained everything she had wanted and lost it all in one moment.

Chapter 3- Confessions

It didn't come as much of a surprise to her that he had come knocking at her door at two am that morning. She knew he'd want to continue what they had started in the garage, and a part of her did as well. The other part wanted to know what it was that Storm meant by "She needs to know what she's in for".

"Can I come in?" he whispered trying not to wake the others that slept in the rooms near by.

She simply nodded and pushed back the door for him to enter. Stepping inside he turned to face her.

"So…are you here just to tell me that we can't do this, that you're going to hurt me, or are you here to tell me the truth, Logan?" she hadn't yet turned to face him, her hand still on the doorknob.

He didn't say anything at first. She could tell there was apprehension on his part, but whether or not it was about them being together or what Storm had said, she wasn't sure.

"Look, I didn't expect to come back and see you this way. I've been trying to fight it since the moment I first saw you that morning. I've always been the one that said they would protect you, and now I'm the one that stands to hurt you the most…"

Turning to face him she opened her mouth to interrupt. She knew he would do this, knew that he would try anything and everything to dodge being with her, use any excuse he could.

"BUT…" he continued "I've realized that I can't deny it. I can't protect you either. You have to know that if we do this, if we…give in, there is a good chance both of us will come out of this far worse than we went in." he slowly made his way over to her. "Can you live with that?"

Her breath quickened and she nodded in compliance. He leaned down and lifted her chin so that her lips met his.

"Wait." She stopped as he let a slight groan out.

"What's wrong? I thought we both agreed that…"

"What's going on Logan? I want the truth."

"I told you the truth, I want to be with you, that's the truth." He went to lean in and kiss her again, but her gloved hand stopped him before his lips could reach their destination.

"No, Logan, the truth. I heard Storm. I heard her tell you to tell me what's going on. I want the truth, I think I deserve it."

He sighed loudly, cursed Storm under his breath and made his way over to Rogues bed.

"Don't you know eaves dropping is rude?" he smiled at her softly lifting one eyebrow in the processes. A look that Rogue used to find endearing, but at the moment she found it more frustrating than anything else.

"Logan." She pushed making her way to the bed to sit next to him.

He nodded, realizing he'd been conquered.

He let out a large sigh before begining his story.

"A year ago, I was up north in this little town called Treehill. Xavier had given me a lead that he'd come across that seemed to point in the right direction to who I as before…well…just before. I was at this bar meeting who I thought was a contact to my past. Before I know it I'm being stuck with a needle and everything from then on went black. I don't remember much of what happened after that. Then a month ago, I woke up outside that same bar, only a year had passed. I don't know who the man was that did this to me or where I had been over the last year."

"Oh my God, Logan" shock filled Rogue's face and she suddenly felt guilty for making him tell her.

"There's more. I knew that I needed to come back here, that if anyone could help me figure out what had happened, Xavier could. I couldn't lose another part of my life. After I returned, Xavier discovered that the man that drugged me had kept me prisoner along with other mutants. We were constantly drugged and made to believe that this man was our protector. We killed for him. Killed Mutants, humans, anyone that this man wanted gone. From what we can tell, I must have avoided my drug treatments a few times because I was able to escape. How I ended up at that bar, we don't know."

"Did you figure out who the man was?" she asked cautiously.

He took a deep breath in. "No. but I will."

Deciding that was enough, Rogue placed her hand on Logan's chest and slowly pushed him down onto the bed. She brought herself on top of him, straddling her legs across his body. Bringing her lips toward his, she parted them with her tongue kissing him deeper and deeper with each breath.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her toward him. With one swoop he flipped her over so she was lying underneath him. He lifted her head pulling her shirt off slowly making sure to kiss every inch of her neck and chest. Lying her back down onto the bed he made his way to her exposed stomach and began to kiss each inch as he made his way lower. He undid the tie on her sweat pants, and slid them off, driving Rogue mad in the process.

She sat up and reached for his tank top, pulling it over his head. Next she reached for his pants, first undoing the belt and then the button, taking her time on each, realizing the slower she went, the crazier it drove him.

He desended upon her entering her in one full motion. She had never felt such pleasure before or such pain.

She reached across the bed for him but instead felt an empty space next to her. Sitting up, she pulled the sheet to cover her naked body. Only his smell lingered on, no other trace that he had been there seemed to exist.

She got to her feet and pulled on her sweatpants and a t-shirt. It was still early and everyone was still asleep. Quietly she opened her door and tip toed down the hall and continued down the large staircase. She opened the door to the mansion and saw him standing by his bike no doubt packing a few essentials for what she imagined was another long journey.

"So…were you even going to say goodbye?" she asked folding her arms to try and keep some warmth in.

He stood up and turned to face her. She knew why he was going, knew that there was nothing she could do stop him, but had to try.

"You don't have to do this you know." She pleaded.

He turned from her and continued to pack the food and tools on the ground into the packs on the side of the bike.

"Yes I do." He whispered. He threw one leg over his bike and started the engine.

"Logan…please…don't. I just got you back and now I have to lose you all over again, just as we are starting? It's not fair."

He didn't say anything. She knew she couldn't ask him to stay, knew that he had to go find out who did this to him. She had told him only a few hours ago that she would be with him no matter what, that she understood. The reality of the situation was something different entirely.

He reached out and placed his dog tags in her hand closing her fingers around them. "I love you."

Tears began to stream down her face. She tried to wipe them, but that seemed to make them fall harder and faster. He was gone, the only thing that remained was the sound of a motorcycle in the far off distance and the dog tags clenched tightly in Rogues hand.


End file.
